TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez greets people at a special meeting of the district's Governing Board, Feb. 21, 2017.
VIEW LARGER The TUSD Governing Board at a special meeting, Feb. 21, 2017. The Tucson Unified School District Governing Board spent three hours in closed session Tuesday discussing Superintendent H.T. Sanchez’s future. In its public session, the board decided to delay a decision.
More than 100 people, supporters and opponents of Sanchez, filled the meeting room and overflow areas at the Duffy Community Center for the special meeting, billed as a discussion of and possible decision on the superintendent's tenure.
Sanchez has been superintendent since 2013 and is under a $200,000 a year contract until 2018.
VIEW LARGER Members of the public gather at a TUSD Governing Board meeting, Feb. 21, 2017. After its closed session, the board spent more than 40 minutes hearing feedback from impassioned members of the audience on both sides of the issue.
When that ended, board President Michael Hicks said: "At this time, we’re going to postpone this item for one week so that our legal counsel can proceed as directed in our executive session."
Hicks later said of a possible timeline, "We’re placing it back on the agenda for next week, and hopefully it’ll be resolved next week."
VIEW LARGER The TUSD Governing Board's Michael Hicks, Mark Stegeman and Rachael Sedgwick. Sanchez's job had been secure because the three-member majority of the board that hired him had remained intact. One of the three, Cam Juarez, lost his re-election bid in November, with Rachael Sedgwick joining the board and forming a new majority with Hicks and Mark Stegeman.
Sedgwick last week asked that an "action item" on the superintendent's future be discussed at the special meeting. Stegeman added his name to the request.
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